SSiMicrodishesandtowerinCambridgeBay.Thefederalgovernmentrecentlyannouncedthecompanywillreceive$35millionforimprovingInternetservicesinNunavut.photocourtesyofSSIMicro

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SSi Micro lands web bidCritics say expected Internet speeds still poor compared to southern options

Karen K. Ho Northern News ServicesMonday, July 13, 2015

NUNAVUTNorthern telecom service provider SSi Micro will receive $35 million todouble the speed and data cap of satellite Internet service in Nunavutas part of a federal government initiative.

But the Nunavut BroadbandDevelopment Corporation saidthe project's required minimumspeeds of three mbps fordownloads and 512 kbps foruploads in the territory is muchless than what's available inmost southern communities.

"Overall, it's justunderwhelming," executivedirector Oana Spinu toldNunavut News/North. "This is asmall increase that will makelittle difference for NunavutInternet users as we watch thegap between the North and therest of Canada get bigger andbigger and bigger."

The move is part of a $305-million program calledConnecting Canadians aimedat bringing high-speed Internetservices to households in rural and remote regions of the country.

As the result of a funding announcement by the Government of Canada, SSiMicro is slated to receive $35 million to extend and enhance satellite Internet

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service for approximately 8,600 homes in Nunavut. The company was declaredthe winner of a request for proposals and will need to contribute $15 million aspart of the project. SSi also said that money will be applied to new hardware andfacilities to upgrade infrastructure in all 25 Nunavut communities.

The money from the federal government will be applied to satellite capacity for theterritory's Qiniq network through satellite service provider Telesat.

Spinu said that in 2011 when the Canadian Radio-television andTelecommunications Commission first proposed a target of five megabytes persecond as a target across Canada, the average download speed in the countrywas 9.43 megabytes per second and the average amount downloaded per monthwas 22 gigabytes. In Nunavut that same year, the average speed was 384kilobytes per second and the data cap was three gigabytes per month.

By that same index, today the average download speed in the country is around30 megabytes per second and the average amount downloaded per month was70 gigabytes with the average cost of Internet being $30 a month. Bycomparison, the current standard plan available to customers of Qiniq in all 25communities in the territory costs $80 per month, with a monthly usage cap of 10gigabytes, and a speed of 1.5 megabits per second.

"The gap has more than doubled from 2011 to 2015," Spinu said. "I'm reallyhopeful this is a patch while a short-term plan is being developed but this veryincremental increase will make very little difference to Nunavut Internet users."

While SSi spokesperson Dean Proctor acknowledged the service being given toNunavummiut would be nowhere near the speeds found in Toronto, he did saythe initiative was a stepping stone to bringing those speeds in place.

With this additional $15 million investment under the Connecting Canadiansinitiative, the speed and data cap of Qiniq's standard plan is set to increase tothree megabits per second and 20 gigabytes, but stay at the same price of $80per month.

Proctor said this will be a "massive improvement" for satellite-servedcommunities, calling his services "world-class" and high-quality. In a mediarelease, the company said that it is already deploying 4G LTE technologies intocommunities in the territory.

However, when asked about how this faster technology would affect consumers'consumption of the new data cap of 20 gigabytes, Proctor admitted the speed ofthree megabytes per second would help "pace capacity."

Spinu said there have been debates over what qualifies as high-speed andacknowledged there wasn't a set definition like there has been for dial-up Internet.But she had strong words for the new minimums set for the territory.

"To me it doesn't matter what you call it, it's just not good enough," she said.

The data may also become a major issue for users in the territory because

according to Spinu's calculations, someone in Nunavut could easily consumetheir entire bandwidth amount in as little as 15 hours.

There's also the very real danger that as a result of the program, said Spinu,Internet speeds in Nunavut will plateau at three megabytes per second starting in2016.

"The rest of Canada's speeds will get faster and fast each month, each year," shesaid. "You can't wait four years to see an increase in service if everyone else has ithappens at a much faster pace."

For Spinu, one of the biggest issues of limited and slow access to Internet is itsimpact on education, job training and entrepreneurship.

"So many of the jobs today and tomorrow are going to require a minimum level ofdigital literacy," she said. "If you don't have Internet access at school or at home,how are you possibly going to have those skills to be able to compete in theworkforce or even to run your own business?"

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